Sunday, July 31, 2011



Sheree did come by yesterday and I got so excited seeing her stuff and showing her mine that I forgot to save anything to show here. I loved her napkin rings - they were so right for this area with tiny sea shells on sand-colored rings. She liked the bracelets with the extended ridges so I am hoping I can make more of those soon. It is interesting that both Sheree and my daughter-in-law picked those as favorites. . .

After she left I tried to settle down by making these bracelets with the new Magatama beads that came in my last order from Fire Mountain. The butterflies I had gotten in a trade with Debbe at the last bead meeting. Just nice 'enjoying whatever' time after so much talking about what I should be making!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011



Since I am determined to see Sheree on the weekend, no matter how lousy I still feel, and knowing she has been making napkin rings, I turned my meager talents in that direction. You can see that I am too lazy to even make color changes - I just keep trying new ideas with the same stash. Am eager to see what she has been doing and to get inspired to find something new and better than I am doing.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011



So now I am following the directions - somewhat. I figured out that my color printer would have the necessary memory and got the instruction sheet with web-like diagrams in color. Instead of starting each leg and pulling them together to then fill in the center. I start a center with circular peyote which assures me that my center will be centered with just five beads. Then I add a leg, doing it to the end and go on to the next one. With all the legs in place I close up the center on the back which it is not so vital that this center is perfectly centered.

The difference between the length of these legs and my more extreme starfish of the other day is only two rows of a repeat. On my design I made a reduction (by skipping a stitch) and then worked five rows in that size. In these starfish there are only three rows in the same size. The starfish at the bottom are turned over so you can see the decreases.

Since I am not a great counter-person, these decreases are often made according to 'feeling' of what the individual leg needs. Also I figure not all legs need to be equal and often aren't in real life because a crab has lunched on one that is still growing back. I maintain my starfish legs are equal enough to give the impression of a starfish! I seemed to be hooked on these and am now trying to determine the best color or colors.

Friday, July 15, 2011



The other day, while waiting for the antibiotic to kick in and kill my bronchitis, I saw a special deal on the tutorials at Interweave. Many years ago I had seen a pin on a visitor to Gualala Arts and had tried to make it from my impressions. That resulted in the many brick-stitched flowers that have become such a part of my work and bringing in prizes and Fire Mountain ads. Still what that woman was wearing was much more starfish-like so, in an effort to fulfill that old dream, I sent off for the tutorial. Paying for it and getting it were easy. My dear old printer, however, did not have enough memory to print out all the instructions so I only got this first page of four. However, it seemed enough to get me started on trying these. Yes mine are much skinnier than the photo, but they do look very much like one species of starfish. I think that today I shall try to print out page two and do the decreases as shown in the directions.

Friday, July 8, 2011




I went out this morning to photograph our Tanabata branches in our yard and there by the crane was this heron. You can almost see it under the chin of green origami crane in the top picture. Was so thrilled I forgot all my photography skills. I think hunters call this 'buck fever' when they get too excited to shoot the deer in their sights. We rarely see a heron in our yard and to have it appear just as I was looking at the cranes of origami was such a gift!

One of the origami kimono had been ripped down and had tooth marks in it. Probably a raccoon seeing if it was eatable. Hopefully the local animals are enjoying the Tanabata branch as much as we are.


Sunday, July 3, 2011



This probably does not make much sense, but it is the work-in-progress. I've decided to use this crocheted purse to contain the many strings of beads for the piece I am calling it "Self Portrait."I see myself as a lumpy bag with beads spilling, dribbling, cascading out of me. What you cannot see is the string of white beads that will be nailed to the wall showing the length of my arm's reach horizontally and vertically. At the center will be this bag and the fall of beads.

I am almost finished stringing a huge candy jar of bead soup. At 85 inch intervals the strings are pulled into the bag through the holes. There they are looped through a metal ring. Then the hanging bead string is put into a plastic bag to keep it from tangling. Today I hope to be able to start pulling all the strings into the bag. That means sitting on the floor and keeping those many strands of beads in order- not my favorite job. But first I have to go clean the oven. Also not a favorite job. Company coming this week.

Saturday, July 2, 2011




Got a note from Susan Fields, who has attended our bead meetings, that this work of hers is being installed in the show "Outlandish" at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. The show opens on July 7, with a reception from 6 - 8 and stays up until September 4. She calls these "Beaded Rocks" and I love them! I had seen individual rocks in her studio but this is the first time I have gotten photos of several together. You can see other photos and other works of Susan's at her website. Thanks for the loan of the photo!


Susan said she got the idea from watching Sue Hansen's demonstration of covering tin boxes with beads. Though very different in effect my work with covering twigs with beads was directly influenced by Susan's work on this project.